[Ilugc] It?s hard to monetize free open source software
- From: prem@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Prem Kurian Philip)
- Date: Thu, 20 Jun 2013 11:25:07 +0530 (IST)
On Thu, Jun 20, 2013 at 7:33 AM, Mohan Sundaram <mohan.tux at gmail.com>
wrote:
One needs to deliver something to make money. If software is free, just
giving software does not deliver any value and this no business can be
transacted.
If free shows is used as a bar and deep knowledge of the software,
domain
and integration is packaged and sold as training, configuration
services,
customisation, integration with other packages, there is able money to
be
made.
in both the above cases you are talking about software as a service , the
point most of the youngsters miss is , there is no tangible direct benefit
from the Free software you write in most of the cases , There is one very
big intangible benefit which most of us ignore is the skill development in
the process .This is what makes this person special who is valued in top
dollars by thousands of companies across the world . This is a big market
place in its own and will need a different thread to talk about . so to
not
to confuse much the first stop if youngsters can cater to this market
place
with skills , once they are employed and once there basic needs and
necessities are taken care of then they can think of taking the next step
towards whatever next big or whatever IMHO.
From my experience with open source development, there is money to be made
IF the software being developed is more applicable for enterprises rather
than for end consumers.
If you are the author/contributor of an open source product, library or
framework or even if you are not the author but an expert in that product,
companies are willing to pay to have you *consult* with them on the
implementation of that product.
That is where the money is made - in consulting. When I refer to
consulting, I mean:
a) Modifications to the software to meet a specific set of requirements
unique to a client.
b) Implementing the software for the client
c) Rebranding the software with the client's logo, corporate colours. This
can often be charged at a very high rate.
d) Support post implementation
e) Training
Other avenues for revenue generation:
f) The authors/experts can make money on selling books, guides, and other
sorts of documentation.
g) Some classes of software are dual licensed - open source licensed for
non-commercial use, and commercially licensed for everything else.
h) In the case of software like Mozilla, there may be option to default to
a specific search engine / site. For this the search engine or site will
pony up the funds.
Examples of opensource software which is making a lot of money:
Redhat/JBOSS, Springsource, Eclipse, Joomla, Drupal, Typo3, Liferay,
Alfresco, PostgreSQL, Apache Hadoop.. and most Apache products
In the case of Mozilla,
However, it is unlikely that an end consumer - a retail customer, is going
to pay to receive support or consulting from you.
That was the problem with the Songbird music player. It was a product
intended for individuals to use in their homes. There was a small niche
segment of enterprises who may have been willing to use Songbird for their
own products - example: Philips for the Mp3 players etc, but the value
proposition wasn't strong enough. Someone at Philips can easily download
the source code, make a few changes and brand it as the Philips player.
There wasn't a lot of scope for consulting.
BTW, the name of my company - Songbird Technologies, has nothing
whatsoever to do with the Songbird music player. We were established in
2003 - well before the Songbird player came on the scene.
Regards,
Prem Kurian Philip
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